And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” -- Mark 15:34
Contained in the verse above is the most astounding truth. You see, in one moment, in one statement, Jesus Christ displays what He came to do and accomplish. On the one hand, Jesus, as he is hanging on the cross, experiences the supernatural darkness of God’s just wrath for the sins of the world. It was in that moment that Jesus was being utterly forsaken by the Father as He became your sin, and my sin, and bore the wrath of God in himself. But it’s not just enough for Jesus to bear our sin and wrath. He had to live a life of perfect, loving obedience to God the Father. And as Jesus, in the midst of hell, as his soul and body are being unraveled, cries, “My God, My God.” It’s the language of intimacy. Jesus, in the midst of hell, still says to the Father, “I love you, I trust you, and obey you.” You see, no one has ever suffered like Jesus. No one has ever been obedient like Jesus. In that one moment, in that one phrase, Jesus is living the life of loving obedience that we should have lived, and because we didn’t, Jesus dies the death that was ours to bear. Why? Why would God come down and do all of that? For you, and for me!
Rejoice today! God loves you so much. No matter what you have gone through, are going through, or will go through, Jesus Christ can intimately identify with you, and cares for you, and wants to be in relationship with you eternally. He proved it on the cross.
So rejoice in your great God and Savior Jesus Christ today!
